Boys rescued from alleged initiation school abduction

Abandoned food is pictured at an illegal initiation school, 7 July 2015, on a Mine Dump in Meadowlands Soweto after the community intervened stopping the activities there. Picture: Alaister Russell

The boys were rescued from the initiation school on Friday.

An initiation school has been closed and destroyed by police after six 16-year-old boys were allegedly kidnapped in Sebokeng and held in an open field on Pretoria Road, close to Birchleigh Railway Station in Gauteng.

The boys, believed to have been taken with their parents’ permission, were allegedly assaulted, Kempton Express reported.

They were rescued on Friday afternoon around 2pm.

According to provincial police spokesperson, Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng, the incident is linked to an illegal initiation school.

“The five arrested suspects were released because they could not be linked to the school and some of them were relatives of the boys,” he added.

“Some of the parents have taken their sons home, but others remain in hospital.” All the boys had reportedly been circumcised.